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Murrysville, PA Seeks Bids to Drill Under Two Municipal Parks

Sometime in the next few months, Murrysville (PA) Council members will make a decision about leasing land for shale drilling under Duff Park (234 acres) and Murrysville Community Park (305 acres). Murrysville is located in Westmoreland County in the southwestern part of the state. Olympus Energy is interested and has pitched proposals to lease under both parks, using their adjacent leased acreage (on private land) to set up rigs to drill under the parks. However, Murrysville Solicitor Wes Long advised council members to seek bids from other companies as well. What did Olympus offer for a signing bonus and royalties? We have the numbers.
Read More “Murrysville, PA Seeks Bids to Drill Under Two Municipal Parks”

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Upper Burrell Supervisors Lean Toward Approving 5th Olympus Pad

Upper Burrell Twp.

Last November, Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County, PA) town supervisors held a hearing, and following that hearing, voted unanimously to approve a new well pad proposed by Olympus Energy (see Olympus Energy’s 4th Upper Burrell Well Pad Wins Unanimous Approval). It was the fourth such well pad approved by the town. Olympus is back and has applied for a permit to construct a fifth well pad in Upper Burrell, and it looks as though this one will be approved, too, judging from comments made by one of the town supervisors.
Read More “Upper Burrell Supervisors Lean Toward Approving 5th Olympus Pad”

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23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 2 – 8

New shale permits issued for Oct 2 – 8 in the Marcellus/Utica were the same exact number as those issued the previous week. But wow, was there a shift in where they were issued! There were 23 new permits issued last week. Last week’s permit tally included a pathetic 4 new permits in Pennsylvania, 1 new permit in Ohio, and a whopping 18 new permits in West Virginia (after WV issued 13 the week prior). Antero was the top recipient, receiving 11 permits across two counties in WV: Doddridge and Wetzel. HG Energy received 7 permits in Lewis County, WV.
Read More “23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 2 – 8”

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23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 25 – Oct 1

New shale permits issued for Sep 25 – Oct 1 in the Marcellus/Utica were up a few ticks from the previous week. There were 23 new permits issued last week, up from 21 permits issued two weeks ago. Last week’s permit tally included 10 new permits in Pennsylvania, no new permits in Ohio, and a surprising 13 new permits in West Virginia. Two companies tied for top permittee, one you know, one you may not know. Olympus Energy received 5 permits to drill in Westmoreland County, PA. Consol Mining Company received 5 permits to drill in Monongalia County, WV. Consol used to own CNX Resources before spinning off CNX into its own company. Consol concentrates on coal mining. We were surprised to see Consol wandering back into shale drilling.
Read More “23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 25 – Oct 1”

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16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 21 – 27

New shale permits issued for Aug 21 – 27 in the Marcellus/Utica decreased once again. Up down, up down, up down. That’s what it feels like. There were 16 new permits issued last week, down nearly half from the 27 issued the prior week. Last week’s permit tally included 11 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia (WV has issued no permits in four of the last five weeks). The top permittee for the week, for the third week in a row, was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 5 permits–1 in Bradford County and 4 in Sullivan County.
Read More “16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 21 – 27”

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Murrysville, PA, Approves Ordinance Allowing Injection Wells

At the regular Murrysville, PA (Westmoreland County) town council meeting on August 16, the council voted to adopt Ordinance No. 1075-23, an ordinance amending the town code to add a provision allowing wastewater injection wells in the town. The new ordinance limits injection wells to properties zoned for business use. The prospective site must be at least five acres, and the well’s borehole cannot be within 250 feet of a property line. Other restrictions apply too. Needless to say, antis are not happy.
Read More “Murrysville, PA, Approves Ordinance Allowing Injection Wells”

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27 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 14 – 20

New shale permits issued for Aug 14 – 20 in the Marcellus/Utica finally turned around. There were 27 new permits issued last week, way up from the 10 issued the prior week. Last week’s permit tally included 21 new permits in Pennsylvania, 2 new permits in Ohio, and 4 new permits in West Virginia (after no permits in WV for three weeks in a row). The top permittee for the week, for the second week in a row, was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 6 permits–5 in Bradford County and 1 in Susquehanna County.
Read More “27 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 14 – 20”

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Olympus Applies for Permit to Build 5th Well Pad in Upper Burrell

Upper Burrell Twp, Westmoreland County

Last November, Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County, PA) town supervisors held a hearing, and following that hearing, voted unanimously to approve a new well pad proposed by Olympus Energy (see Olympus Energy’s 4th Upper Burrell Well Pad Wins Unanimous Approval). It was the fourth such well pad approved by the town. Olympus is back and has applied for a permit to construct a fifth well pad in Upper Burrell. Olympus (formerly Huntley & Huntley) drills in the Greater Pittsburgh region, in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.
Read More “Olympus Applies for Permit to Build 5th Well Pad in Upper Burrell”

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6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for Tardy PA Jul 10-16

Rich Negrin, newly ensconced Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Pennsylvania, was supposed to be the Great White Horse riding it to correct the problems at the DEP and “make the trains run on time” (i.e., clean up the bureaucratic dysfunction at the agency). He’s been running the agency since January, yet we haven’t seen any noticeable changes. Is it too soon to expect results? Last Friday, as happens about once every other month, the DEP’s oil and gas reporting database was offline, throwing an error. We could not bring you PA’s permit numbers for Friday (see 17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for OH-WV (Not PA) Jul 10-16). Sometime in the last 72 hours, the computer geeks got their act together and got the computer system working again (after we pestered them). Today we bring you the permit report for PA that should have been available on Friday, showing PA issued a lousy six new shale permits for the week of July 10-16.
Read More “6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for Tardy PA Jul 10-16”

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11 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 3-9

New shale permits issued for Jul 3-9 in the Marcellus/Utica saw a dramatic decrease after posting a dramatic increase the week before. There were 11 new permits issued last week, way down from the 39 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included a scant 3 new permits in Pennsylvania, 3 new permits in Ohio, and 5 new permits in West Virginia. The top permittee for the week was Northeast Natural Energy, receiving 5 permits in Monongalia County, WV.
Read More “11 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 3-9”

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39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 26-Jul 2

New shale permits issued for Jun 26 – Jul 2 in the Marcellus/Utica saw a dramatic increase, thanks to a bump in Pennsylvania’s numbers. There were 39 new permits issued last week, way up from 11 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 30 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and just 1 new permit in West Virginia. Coterra Energy scored the most new permits with a whopping 12 issued in Susquehanna County, PA (for two well pads). Range Resources had the second most new permits, with 7 permits issued in Washington County, PA (for one pad).
Read More “39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 26-Jul 2”

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Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA Given Extra 18 Mos. to Build

In January 2016, Invenergy announced its intention to build a natural gas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County, PA (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). It took a few years, a lawsuit, and a new location, but eventually, Elizabeth commissioners approved Invenergy’s plan in December 2018 (see Elizabeth Twp in Allegheny Co. OKs Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant). In June 2021, the Allegheny County Health Department’s permitting section held a hearing to discuss potential emissions from the plant. The Health Department subsequently issued an installation (but not an operating) air permit. A mishmash of Big Green groups promptly sued to block the installation air permit (see Anti Groups Challenge Permit for Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA). What is the latest news on this project?
Read More “Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA Given Extra 18 Mos. to Build”

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Injection Well Fight Continues in Western PA – Plum, Murrysville

MDN recently reported that after eight years, Pennsylvania General Energy gave up on trying to build an environmentally safe wastewater injection well in Grant Township, Indiana County, PA (see Bad Guys Win: PA General Energy to Plug Grant Twp Injection Well). Yes, the bad guys (CELDF) finally won. However, a proposed injection well project is still alive and progressing in western PA, in Plum Township (Allegheny County). Neighboring Murrysville (in Westmoreland County) isn’t waiting for a company to apply to build an injection well there. The town is working on a new ordinance to ensure no injection wells can get built in Murrysville.
Read More “Injection Well Fight Continues in Western PA – Plum, Murrysville”

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8 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 22-28

New shale permits issued for May 22-28 in the Marcellus/Utica fell again for a second week. There were only 8 new permits issued, down from 12 new permits issued the previous week (and 26 the week before that). This is the latest indicator of a slowdown in gas drilling in our region–the first indicator being a sudden dropoff a few weeks back in the rig count (see U.S. Natural Gas Drilling Rig Count Craters, Down 10% in One Week). Last week’s permit tally included 6 new permits for Pennsylvania, no new permits for Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia.
Read More “8 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 22-28”

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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 8-14

New shale permits issued for May 8-14 in the Marcellus/Utica rose from the prior week. There were 26 new permits issued last week, up from 20 in the prior week (and 18 the week before that). Last week’s tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 10 new permits for Ohio, and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was CNX Resources, with 7 permits issued (5 of them in Westmoreland County, PA, and 2 in Greene County, PA). Encino Energy, showing up as EAP Ohio in the report, had the second-highest tally with 5 permits (issued in Harrison County, OH).
Read More “26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 8-14”

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25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 17-23

New shale permits issued for Apr. 17-23 in the Marcellus/Utica picked up five from the prior week. There were 25 new permits issued in total last week, up from 20 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 21 new permits for Pennsylvania, 2 new permits for Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Range Resources with 7 permits issued in Washington County, PA. Greylock Energy was number two with 6 new permits issued in Greene County, PA.
Read More “25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 17-23”